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5 top tips for London Design Fair, which takes over East London's Old Truman Brewery this weekend...

BY SOPHIE DAVIES

Hanging out at London Design Fair is pretty much our idea of the perfect Sunday. Spend your day perusing emerging and established design talent in and around East London's Old Truman Brewery, before chilling out at one of Brick Lane's bars, cafes or curry houses. One of our key pit stops for London Design Festival, this sprawling event hosts a huge selection of exhibitors, ticking the boxes from furniture to lighting and accessories.

So where to start? Always worth a look are the Country Pavilions, which offer group shows celebrating the best of national design from Sweden to Portugal, the Netherlands to Finland, Poland to South Korea, and beyond. You'll also discover special Features at the fair, from themed exhibits to material galleries and one-off collaborations. For a mix of inspiring designs, kick off with these five FizzPicks...

Mijo Studio (stand E23, Hall T1)Devotees of bold pattern and colour, painterly prints and contemporary textiles will love the work of Mijo Studio. Based in Copenhagen, the Danish-Norwegian design duo – Miranda Tengs Brun and Josefine Gilbert – have brought their interactive 'Aio' seating to London Design Fair, which started life as a playful experiment into the relationship between patterns and shapes. Turn and flip the elements of this foam seat, with jaunty printed cotton upholstery, to create fresh compositions. Scandi chic.

ABOVE: Flyte's levitating products include the 'Flyte' light and 'Lyfe' planter, which both float in the air; A video showing the 'Flyte' light in action

Flyte (stand L05, Hall T3-C)An innovation company specialising in home decor and lighting products, Swedish brand Flyte, founded by Simon Morris, launches a minimal light and vase flaunting magnetic magic! Both the 'Flyte' light bulb and the 'Lyfe' planter float in the air, levitating, 'setting the design free'. 'Flyte' draws power wirelessly from the base below while twirling around in mid-air, using induction rather than batteries. 'Lyfe' harnesses maglev ('magnetic levitation') technology, with a custom-shaped magnet pushing up against an electromagnetic base causing the planter to levitate in a zero-gravity growing system. See Flyte's site for more on how these magnetic fields work, or just enjoy the mystery!

Liga Studio (stand F33, Hall T1)Storage gets sexy thanks to new French company Liga Studio, which has unveiled gorgeous ombré 'Liga' tables/storage units for London Design Fair. Run by creative duo Pierre Alexandre Cesbron (ENSCI) and Matthieu Muller (Design Academy Eindhoven), the brand's range of storage furniture includes a box, a bedside and a coffee table. It's the colour gradients that give these sleek contemporary designs star quality, as well as unusual details such as the ligature linking the top and bottom, acting as a hinge.

British Craft Pavilion Looking good this year is the British Craft Pavilion, an innovative selection of around 40 UK makers across diverse craft disciplines, curated by Hole & Corner magazine. Furniture, ceramics, textiles, wood, and work in lacquer, leather, metal, and concrete are among the diverse media explored in this striking show, where the handmade rules.

ABOVE: Graphic lighting by Earnest Studio is a highlight on the USA: Guest Country stand

DesignFizz

DesignFizz is an international celebration of design. New products, cool places and spaces, design stores and destinations, design and art events, hip hotels, restaurants, bars, street style and music, this is your essential guide to what's hot in the world of contemporary design.

ABOVE: Coral pink (Pantone 16-1546) is Pantone’s Colour Of The Year for 2019. Symbolising comfort, warmth and joy this soothing hue is most welcome in these politically uncertain times. Expect to see an outbreak of this nurturing colour across all facets of interiors this year. From rugs to paint colours, from lighting to furniture it looks like we’ll be in the pink in 2019.pantone.com